


Homecoming

by zinjadu



Series: In a house on a hill by the sea [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Dadistair, F/M, Family Dinners, Family Fluff, Gen, Homecoming, Parents and Children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-27 06:03:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16696855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zinjadu/pseuds/zinjadu
Summary: Once, family dinners would have been beyond former Warden-Commander Caitwyn Tabris, but now as she waits for the son of her heart to come home, she can't think of any other place she'd rather be.Posted for full adorable for the American Thanksgiving season.





	Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Long Way Home](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14613042) by [zinjadu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zinjadu/pseuds/zinjadu). 



“Here’s here! Here’s here!” Rhiannon yelled from her spot by the front window of the house, bouncing up and down on her toes, her long braids swinging with every movement. Oak and Violet, both Mabari getting on in years, capered about as excited as her daughter. Caitwyn smiled at the sheer energy on display. Then again, Caitwyn was on pins and needles herself. Had it really been two years since he had gone to Val Royeaux, she wondered. Time slipped through her fingers. As a Warden she had counted and measured moments, knowing that each day brought her closer to the dark end that waited all of them. But now some nine years after being cured, time, once so precious, was spent on the silliest things as if she had suddenly become wealthy.

The door opened, and in walked Kieran, Alistair a step behind him. They had the same height, and though Kieran was not quite as broad in the shoulder, there was no mistaking the same nose and jawline the men shared. Caitwyn’s heart soared to see him, to have her son home again, son of her heart if not her blood. However, someone else had priority, and Caitwyn’s lips curved into a grin as Rhiannon launched herself at her brother.

“Kieran!” Rhiannon cried.  He swung his sister up in his arms and hugged her close. They looked nothing alike. Kieran pale, tall and dark haired with his father’s hazel eyes, thoroughly human; Rhiannon small, darker skinned with sandy hair and Caitwyn’s own green eyes, looking every inch an elf. But that didn’t matter here; here, in this house, they were family.

“Oof, you’ve gotten big!” Kieran exclaimed, hefting her in his arms.  Then Oak and Violet were not far behind, launching their heavy bodies at the young man, nearly sending him off balance.

“I missed you!” Rhiannon declared, hugging Kieran fiercely. “So did Violet! But I looked after her for you, just like I promised.”

“I know you did, and I missed you, too, Rhia."  His voice was soft as he squeezed his sister’s thin body.  He shifted her and patted each dog on the head, giving Violet special attention. The runt of the litter, Kieran had bonded with her all those years ago when he had first come to the house, a boy all of ten and unsure of where he stood. “And you, too, Violet. You’ve been keeping an eye on Rhia haven’t you?”

Violet barked in the affirmative, her solid bulk leaning against her person’s legs with obvious contentment.

“What, no greeting for your Da?”  Alistair broke into the action, affecting shock and hurt.  Rhiannon, eight years old and unimpressed with her father’s antics, rolled her eyes at him.

“I see you every day, Kieran being home is  _special_ ,” she insisted. Alistair staggered, dropping one of Kieran’s travel packs to the floor, holding his hands to his heart as if shot through.

“You  _wound_  me,” he whined plaintively.

“He hasn’t changed, has he?” Kieran asked his sister, tone dry.

“Nope, not a bit,” Rhiannon said primly. Alistair fell back against the wall, eyes seeking Caitwyn’s, looking for an ally.

“Did you hear that? How they speak to me, their father?” he asked, voice rising in playful indignation.

“What was that,  _vhenan_? Did you say something?” she asked, eyes wide with all the false innocence she could muster. Alistair narrowed his eyes, finally understanding that for all his antics, there was no beating the combined efforts of his family.

“You’re evil, all of you,” he muttered, hefting the travel pack and depositing it Kieran’s old room. It was still his room, if Caitwyn was honest with herself. They stored a few things in it, but it had not been difficult to clean it up for this home coming. Still, watching Alistair grumble, even if it was a bit exaggerated, made her laugh, and she wove through the furniture to reach her son. He had to bend over to hug her, while Rhiannon continued to cling to him like a squirrel.

“It’s so good to have you home  _dhalen_ ,” she told him, the words of her people if not her youth coming to her tongue.

“It’s good to be home,  _Mamae_ ,” he replied, and they held each other a moment longer.

“And how’s your mother?”  Caitwyn was glad for Morrigan that she was able to see Kieran more frequently now that he was back in Orlais, though Caitwyn missed him dearly on her own account.

“She’s the same, as ever, and sends you her  _felicitations_ ,” he said dryly, hazel eyes bright.   Caitwyn laughed, knowing full well what Morrigan meant by what she did not say.

“Yes, that sounds like her. Well, come on, you’re just in time for dinner,” she said as she Rhiannon on the knee. “Help me set the table—”

“ _Mamae_ , I can help Rhia, you rest."  Kieran's offer did not give her time to refuse, and Rhiannon jumped down from her brother’s embrace. “Everywhere where it used to be?”

“Yup!”  Rhiannon sprang forward, for once excited to help with chores, with her brother home to help. Kieran followed her, sparing Caitwyn a smile as he went. Alistair emerged from Kieran’s room and caught her up in his arms as they watched their children set the table, laying everything out as if Kieran had never left. Rhiannon a bright, flighty thing, dancing around Kieran’s more deliberate motions. Alistair pressed a kiss to Cait’s temple, and she leaned into it, leaned into him.

“Eeeew, Da,  _Mamae_ , stop it!” Rhiannon demanded, catching sight of her parents hugging.  She turned to Kieran with all the dignity and disapproval she could muster. “They’re still doing that, being  _gross_. I probably don’t have to warn you, but just in case, you should know.”

“Thanks, Rhia, you’re always looking out for me,” Kieran told her solemnly.  Rhiannon, sensing something wry in her brother’s tone, glanced at him sharply.  However, she was unable to discern any fault in his words, so she let it pass.  Caitwyn disentangled herself from Alistair and moved to put supper on the table, but Kieran and Alistair were ahead of her, pulling the pot from the fireplace, setting the bread and butter on the table, and all that was left to sit and eat.

“Smells good,  _Mamae_ , what did you make?” Kieran asked patiently, waiting for her to start.

“Your favorites,” she replied, lifting the lid of the stew pot, revealing braised chicken and mushrooms with other vegetables. The bread was her special rosemary and salt bread, the one that took her two days to make, but was worth it. She even had made his favorite dessert, baked, caramel stuffed pears, secreted away for a surprise later. It was all worth it to see his shy smile, to see Rhiannon so proud for her contributions, having helped to make everything, to see Alistair clap Kieran on the shoulder, cutting off Kieran’s attempts to say that she needn’t have gone to the trouble.

“Thank you,” Kieran said, ducking his head, “It’s perfect.” Caitwyn tried to fix this moment in her mind’s eye. He would not stay long, having to back to his work, his art, but now they were all together again, a family, a treasure greater than any pile of gold and jewels. Then Rhiannon’s patience broke.

“Can we eat now?” Rhiannon asked, her legs kicking underneath the table, looking to Caitwyn with pleading green eyes.

“If we don’t, I think she’ll explode,” Alistair opined, smirking as they both watched their daughter fidget eagerly.

“You’ve been taking lessons from the dogs in that look,” Caitwyn teased, tickling Rhiannon along her ribs, shocking a peal of indignant laughter from her daughter. “Give Da your plate, greedy cub, and he’ll get you some bread.”

They dished up. Kieran taking not enough in her estimation, and she gave him another piece of chicken for good measure. He was only nineteen, and still growing. Alistair cut Rhiannon a slice of bread while Cait found a mushroom-less portion of chicken and vegetables for their daughter. Then she and Alistair served themselves, Alistair piling a bit  _too_  much on his plate, she thought, but that was a discussion for another day. Butter and salt were passed around, though food did not stop Rhiannon from asking Kieran question after question about Val Royeaux and the University there, nor from Alistair asking if anyone had stolen their son’s heart, much to Kieran’s embarrassment. Kieran eagerly told Rhiannon all she wanted to know, and avoided his father’s questions as best he could, and Caitwyn was content to sit and listen.

She was reminded of her father, who had done much the same when she had been young. Watching her and her cousins eat and tease each other, the whole family gathered in a small room for warmth, sharing whatever they had with whomever needed it. Now it was her, watching her children grow and go out into the world, and for all she had done she finally understood what her father had meant, when he said he knew no greater joy than being a father, than being a parent.

“I’m all done,  _Mamae_ ,” Rhiannon said, in spite of the half a piece of chicken still there. “Can we have dessert now?”


End file.
